Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin

“When the wicked increase, transgression increases…Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:16-18)

Our world seems to grow more and more ungodly, which should not surprise us. From Proverbs 29 we learn that as evil increases God’s laws are transgressed.  When the truth and revelation of God are absent, wickedness increases and people do not care about God, his law,  or the gospel of Jesus Christ. The “prophetic vision” in Proverbs 29:18 is usually interpreted as teaching and preaching that includes biblical doctrines and the call to faith in Jesus Christ. Where there is no confidence in God, there is turmoil, confusion, and disorder.

A child who is confused or uninformed about God will be like the world in chaos. Her ability to reason, make good choices, and practice self-control will be severely hindered as her sin drives her to be disruptive, even to herself. But when she is disciplined, there is rest for the parents, implying that she I also at rest, and genuine delight follows. Discipline takes the form of teaching from God’s Word and biblical training. Satisfaction and contentment do not come from silence, but from consistent guidance and active instruction. Hard work rather than an easy, quick fix are required for the development of wisdom. “What modern people want is almost a form of magic…The way you would guide a youth or adult is to speak to them so they understand and can make decisions without being led by the hand in every instance…Modern people want a technique for guidance, ‘five steps to good decisions.’ [But] God offers wise character, hard won over a lifetime.” (1)

Old Testament language speaks of devotion to God and his ways as “keeping the law.” Is it the moral law in view here (not the ceremonial law)—the Ten Commandments and statutes relating to righteousness? We know that we are unable to obey God’s moral law because of our inborn sinfulness. So how might this child be expected to honor God’s law and receive his blessing? John Gill says this about verse 29, “not the moral law, which no man can keep perfectly, but the law of faith…the doctrine of the Gospel, where it is preached; that attends to it, values and esteems it, receives it by faith, and with meekness.” (2) We cannot control a children’s response to God’s Word, but we can teach and use the wisdom of the Bible for verbal instruction in how to live in a world full of temptations and distractions from what is essential.

Wouldn’t you like to have a live-in mentor and guide who knows God and his precepts? Will you pray for and be faithful to God’s calling as a wise parent or grandparent, to share his wisdom with our younger generation? Rest and delight for your heart will be your reward for your faithful obedience by offering them eternal hope in Christ.

(1)  Keller, Timothy, “God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life (Proverbs),” Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, p. 225.

(2) John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/proverbs-29.html

“Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, ‘Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.’” (Proverbs 4:1-5)

Proverbs speaks of verbal instructions from parents to their children as the primary means of discipline—not teachers or priests or community leaders, but parents. Solomon is repeating the words of his father, David, his son’s grandfather. Biblical wisdom that is passed down from one generation to another is precious; the teacher is a beloved family member who listened to and preserved it. Solomon urges his son to listen attentively to his instruction, which has as its content good principles that will lead to greater insight into how to live, and hopefully, about God. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new?’ It has been already in the ages before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10) There may be truths or teachings that are new to us, though not new to others, or to this world. Rather than be discouraged by this, children should be delighted to learn that elders are a fountain of eternal and enduring wisdom who may teach at any time. Grandparents and parents should also find this encouraging and compelling.

Solomon remembers when he was a son hearing the teaching of his father. David told Solomon to give his heart to David’s words, holding onto them, keeping God’s commandments, which David embraced, for the best possible life with God. (v. 4) Anthony Selvaggio writes, “God has so arranged this world that wisdom and self-discipline simply lead to a better life than do foolishness and laziness. While God’s sovereign care for us is ultimately what makes all this happen, it does not follow that God owes us something when we obey him. If we receive what might be called a reward for such behavior, it is not because we have gained leverage over God, but because he delights to encourage us to even more good behavior.” * Parents who learn to teach well and see good consequences are also encouraged to continue doing so.

David did not leave off teaching Solomon at a particular age, like many parents tend to do today, at the end of high school. Instead, David continued sharing his wisdom with Solomon, so that he might have the best possible life as he matured and later became king. In 1 Chronicles 28:9 David charges Solomon to continue seeking the Lord. Although he built God a magnificent temple with heartfelt devotion to the Lord,  Solomon did not serve God with his whole heart later in his life. Many of our children will show strong faith when they are young but seem to abandon their love for God when they are older. They may turn away from wisdom and insight. But this is no justification for our turning away from God or losing hope in his plans for our children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren.

The wisest insight and best possible instruction for children is that of God character, God’s expectations, and God’s works. This understanding will help us through hard times, disappointments, and temptations. We need discernment to see God’s hand in our lives when we are confused or overwhelmed. Personal knowledge of Christ and eternal matters are the highest possible wisdom. How will you impart this wisdom to the younger generation?

* Selvaggio, Anthony, “A Proverbs Driven Life,” Shepherd Press, 2011, Chapter 12

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” (Psalm 95:6-9)

“Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…” (Hebrews 12:28)

“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:3-4)

Corporate worship as a family is expected by God; it is commanded in the Old and New Testaments. Regular worship prepares us for eternal worship of God in the life to come. The Barna Group did research on the impact of church worship on children: “When it comes to church engagement, those who attended Sunday school or other religious programs as children or as teens were much more likely than those without such experiences to attend church and to have an active faith as adults. For instance, among those who frequently attended such programs as a child, 50% said they attended a worship service in the last week, which is slightly higher than the national average and well ahead of those who rarely or never attended children’s programs. Among those who frequently attended religious programs as teenagers, 58% said they had attended a worship service in the last week. In comparison, less frequent participation as a teenager correlated with less frequent adult participation.

“Finally, the research revealed that adult church leaders usually have serious involvement in church life and training when they are young. Statistics gathered by Barna’s firm among a national sample of pastors, church staff, and lay leaders showed that more than four out of five of those leaders had consistently been involved in the ministry to children for an extended period of years before age 13. One implication is that the individuals who will become the church’s leaders two decades from now are probably active in church programs today.” (1)

Teenagers who want to attend church are in the minority, but those who have grown up doing so on Sundays as a regular occurrence enjoy corporate worship with their church family. Attending church on Sundays should not be an “event” but a normal activity in the life of the family, to join with our greater family in Christ. “‘There is a well-known narrative shaping our perception of teenagers,’ says Sharon Galgay Ketcham, associate professor of theology and Christian ministries at Gordon College and a contributor to the State of Youth Ministry report. ‘The narrative is as old as the socially created category “teenager” that emerged in the 1900s. We hear it daily in the media…the idea that teenagers are broken, deficient and in need of help. We problematize teenagers and use significant resources to try and fix them. This narrative evokes fear and, in loving response, parents are desperate to keep them safe. I am not saying we live in a danger-free world; of course there are real dangers. What I am saying is that teenagers are more than problems to solve—they have potential as human beings, and surely God sees their potential in Jesus Christ through the work of the Spirit… Imagine if we saw teenagers as Christ does: full of potential to join God’s purpose.’” (2)

Are you convinced about helping your teens learn to love church worship? What will it take to convince you and them that Sunday worship is essential to their development as children of God who are called to eternal worship?

(1) The Barna Group, “New Research Explores the Long Term Effect of Spiritual Activity Among Children and Teens,” https://www.barna.com/research/new-research-explores-the-long-term-effect-of-spiritual-activity-among-children-and-teens/

(2) The Barna Group, “The State of Youth Ministry,” Released at the National Youth Workers Convention in November 2016 (NYWC: Cincinnati).https://shop.barna.com/products/the-state-of-youth-ministry

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.’ (Proverbs 2:1-8)

One of the biggest challenges in the life of a family is the training and discipline of children. Right now parents all over the world are reading books, online articles, posts, tweets, magazine articles, and blogs to find some method or approach to keep their children “in line.” But the Bible offers the best wisdom for raising godly children. Punishment is not the same as biblical discipline. Punishment, in the most general sense, is what we do when we want children to stop behaving in ways that we find unacceptable. Not all punishment is wrong or opposed to biblical discipline, but the tendency is to apply some physical punishment as the sole remedy for misbehavior. For example, a parent may spank a five-year-old who hurts her brother deliberately or “ground” a teenager who lied about his whereabouts. Doing these things by themselves is simply parents’ attempt to stop the wrong behavior. Instruction is required if we want children to learn from their mistakes. Scripture teaches that verbal instruction, both positive and negative, is to be the primary means by which we discipline our children. Many people use Proverbs verses to justify corporal punishment, (10:13; 13:24; 22:15; 23:13; 29:15 in particular). However, there are many more verses that counsel us to give good verbal instruction to our children as the primary means by which we discipline them.

Biblical discipline is the practice of raising children in the fear of the Lord. It involves ongoing teaching, prayer, devotions, modeling, and experience with making choices and discernment based on biblical insight, integrity, and holiness. Instruction is required if we want children to learn from their mistakes. The first sections of Proverbs Chapters 1-7 contain valuable instructions for families, and especially children. Proverbs 2:1-8 begins with a directive to a son (or daughter) to listen to and embrace the parents’ teaching. Parents must teach, but not all children welcome their parents’ biblical instruction; it is crucial to have an environment conducive to learning and growing spiritually in the home. Parents are required not only to teach doctrinally but train their children in being teachable so that children will learn to “call out for insight and raise [their] voice[s] for understanding…[to] seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures” (vs. 3-4). The result will be reverent fear of the Lord, knowledge of God, and godly wisdom (vs. 5-7). This will then lead to protection from temptations, the ability to hold onto integrity, and living a life that is exemplified by humble wisdom and watchfulness (vs. 7-8).

At the end of the article, the Barna Group concludes, “personal relationships have become even more important [than church services] in evangelism, with a majority of salvation decisions coming in direct response to an invitation given by a family member or friend.” No matter how old your child or grandchild may be, personal witnessing, in a timely and gracious manner is our calling as Christians, and an essential aspect of disciplining them.

* The Barna Group, Evangelism is Most Effective Among Kids, October 11, 2004,https://www.barna.com/research/evangelism-is-most-effective-among-kids/

“Now therefore fear the Lordand serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15)

“Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” (Joshua 24:16-18)

Parenting is probably the hardest job, given all the different stages of children as they grow up. But many parents often react to their children’s challenges without thinking, or try to figure out what the problem is and solve it without God’s help. We like to think we are strong, wise people who can handle anything, but the truth is that we are frequently overwhelmed, frightened, out of control emotionally, and don’t know what to do. But Christians, isn’t this the way we lived before we belonged to Christ? Now we, like the Israelites, are “beyond the River,” on the other side of the Jordan. We are called to live differently. But, like Israel, we revert to our old ways, in spite of God’s faithfulness to help us in the past.

I’ve been doing a word study on faithfulness in the evenings.  At the beginning of the year, I looked up “faith,” which resulted in passages about our faith and God’s call to faith. But as I began looking up Scripture with the keyword “faithfulness,”  I became tremendously encouraged by the verses referring to God’s faithfulness in the Old Testament. It is God’s faithfulness that Joshua spoke of before giving his people the directive to be faithful to God in the renewal of the covenant in Joshua 24 (vs. 1-13). It is because of God’s steadfast love, attentiveness, protection, guidance, and discipleship that the people even arrived in Canaan. It is because of Christ’s faithfulness that you and I are no longer as we once were, lost in our spiritual wilderness on our own.

The Israelites were never without help, so why should it be “evil” (troublesome, burdensome) to serve God who loves and cares for them (v. 15)?  Why should it seem so to us? Our service in Christ has been transformed from the weary, toilsome way we used to think of duty. Parents who serve Christ are vessels of gospel grace, forgiveness, and instruction. But we relapse into legalism and dry obligation at the drop of a hat, forgetting all that Christ has done for us. We even commit to serve God on our own strength, just like the Israelites (v. 18). Joshua warned them that they would not be able to obey God based on their human strength; God knew their hearts and expected them to surrender to his holy will (v. 19).

Have you surrendered your parenting to Christ, in your heart, mind, and actions? How will you lead and help your household to depend upon Jesus for the day-to-day issues and challenges? Will you resolve to run to him instead of trying to sort things out yourself? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1-4)

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” (Colossians 3:20-21)

To say that parents strongly influence their children is an understatement. Good parenting can give a child a strong biblical foundation on which to build godly morality, integrity, and wisdom. Poor parenting robs a child of this opportunity, providing instead an unstable, shaky (if not immoral) basis for life to come. Of course, no parenting is either all good or bad, since we are fallible human beings who teach from what we know and believe.  But Scripture instructs us to do our best.

Ephesians 6 begins with an instruction to children to obey the commandment, honoring their parents. It relates to the exhortation to fathers in verse 4 (which also applies to mothers); children who are abused or treated harshly find it very difficult to obey their parents. Likewise, “obedient children are especially vulnerable to domineering” parents. (1) Provoking has the connotation here of stirring up anger, and there are many ways that parents incite children to anger, depending on their age. Younger, neglected children may become especially frustrated at not having basic needs met. Older children who do not receive the attention, relational support and instruction that they require as they move through their developmental stages may become angry. Grown children who are cut off from their families because of differences in beliefs or unforgiveness will suffer. All children become frustrated by parents who are overly-critical and demanding, with unrealistic expectations of them.

Paul presents both a warning about doing what is harmful and encouragement to do what is helpful. Instead of provoking children to frustration and anger, parents are to bring children “up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” John Gill explains that we should be “instructing them in the knowledge of divine things, setting them good examples, taking care to prevent their falling into bad company, praying with them, and for them, bringing them into the house of God, under the means of grace, to attend public worship; all which, under a divine blessing, may be very useful to them; the example of Abraham is worthy of imitation [in] Genesis 18:19.” (2)

Parents, do you have unrealistic expectations of your children because you have them of yourself and your parenting? Since unbelief may be the greatest provocation to sin, will you teach your child about the grace of Jesus Christ, as the foundation for their entire lives, rehearsing the gospel for yourself as a reminder of God’s plan for your family?

(1) ESV Study Bible Notes (digital edition), Crossway, 2008, Ephesians 6:4

(2) John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/ephesians-6.html

 

“The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin…because of his great folly he is led astray.” (Proverbs 5:22-23b)

Lately have considered two significant problems in families: favoritism and neglect. To these, we add verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, which entirely disables families from functioning effectively. Why don’t abusive husbands, wives, and parents stop when they know that what they are doing is so wrong and hurtful? They are caught in webs of sin, like trapped animals that cannot escape sin’s power. Frustrations and anger result in verbal filthiness, sexual immorality, and physical punishment. Some parents and siblings cannot control their sexual urges and secretly find satisfaction with children. Family members who are addicted to alcohol or drugs are robbed of their restraint.

In the Old Testament, God sought to control his people’s sin through his laws, to help them be separate from the other immoral nations (Leviticus 18:7-30; Deuteronomy 27:22). The New Testament epistles remind us that, as Christians, we are no longer what we used to be, or like those without Christ. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).

Christians caught in the besetting sin of abuse need help to escape, just like a trapped animal needs someone to come and release the snare. Consider Lot, when men demanded that he allow them to have sexual relations with the intercessors who came to rescue him. When Lot did not seek help and offered his daughters to the abusive men on the other side of his door, the Lord interceded on their behalf. But Lot’s sin was exposed and later imitated by his daughters who abused their father in his drunken state. Their children became the Ammonites, who were rejected by God. (Genesis 19:4-36) All Christians struggle with sin, and sometimes we get stuck in its allurement and passion. The problem of sinful abuse started early in history, as seen in Cain’s murder of Abel (Genesis 4:8) and the corruption of humanity before the flood (Genesis 6:1-7). “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 7:24-8:1)

Christians can experience a flood of forgiveness that will help with the work and healing for the deep, painful hurt of the abusers and their victims. Will you pray for and, if necessary, intercede on behalf of the abused and those abusing them? Christ’s forgiveness is the balm that will heal and repair the deep, painful hurt of the abusers and their victims.

“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (Proverbs 13:24)

“Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And he said to them, ‘Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?’ But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” (1 Samuel 2:22-25)

Another family difficulty, in biblical times and all through the ages, is the neglect of parents to discipline their children. Parenting is not easy and cannot be avoided. We might be surprised at how many overwhelmed or insecure parents shrink back from much of the relational parenting they should be doing. Providing food, clothing, housing, education, and medical attention is the easy part. Building relationships with children that will help them stay the course with God as they grow is the substance of biblical parenting.

Proverbs 13:24 is not intended to support physical abuse or excessive corporal punishment. Instead, it teaches us not to ignore or dismiss sin or rebelliousness to keep peace in the short term. Only through instruction, correction, and consequences can a child learn what is right and what is wrong. Left on their own, children will do what comes naturally, which is to sin, having been born a sinner. “…a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” (Proverbs 29:15b) In his book, “A Proverbs Driven Life,” Anthony Selvaggio says this about Proverbs 13:24: “We must remind ourselves continually to reject the unbiblical teachings of secular culture. Left entirely to themselves, most children will give in to [harmful desires]. Unless they disciplined, they won’t gain self-discipline. Undisciplined children, then, tend to grow into undisciplined adults, becoming a danger to themselves (and others). A child who never learned to live within the boundaries of his parents’ rules will be more likely as an adult to overstep the boundaries of God’s moral law.” *

Eli was so inattentive to his sons that he had to hear about their rebellious behavior from others in Israel (1 Sam 2:22). This was only the tip of the iceberg. Their immorality led to death and shame to their father, recorded in Scripture for eternity. Our present-day equivalent may be parents who learn about their children’s sinful behavior from school principals, neighbors, or even the police. Dishonesty and pretense seem to fool parents who may be so busy with their own lives that they take the “easy way out” by ignoring signs of difficulty. However, there are parents, like my own, who just didn’t know what to do about issues and power struggles that arose with us when we were teenagers.

I have heard my younger relatives tell me, “There is no parenting manual.” Of course, that’s not true—there are plenty of them. But the best one is the Bible, which gives us gospel wisdom and truth on which to build a life. Do you turn to the Bible for help with parenting and instruct your children in its teachings? Will you pray for and speak with your grown children about seeking God’s wisdom to sort out their difficulties and parenting concerns?

* Selvaggio, Anthony. A Proverbs Driven Life (Kindle Locations 2321-2326). Shepherd Press. Kindle Edition.

“It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice…To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong” (Proverbs 18:5; 28:21)

“Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28)

“Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. (Genesis 37:3-4)

Very few of us experience all the blessings of families as a result of unresolved problems. Old Testament history provides many examples of serious family difficulties for our instruction and as warnings. Isaac’s favoritism led to a bitter rivalry and hatred among his sons; Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, who was favored by his father, and Jacob (favored by his mother) was forced to flee his family to escape his brother’s wrath. After Jacob married Leah by his father-in-law’s manipulation, he loved her less and favored Rachel, his true love. He also loved his son Joseph over his brothers (who sold Joseph into slavery in their jealousy).

Although the two cited Proverb’s verses primarily refer to favoritism in court, anything that stirs up conflict and jealousy between family members is opposed to the will of God. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” (James 3:16) Allowing favoritism toward or among children teaches them that it is acceptable and the cycle continues. Those who are favored often become prideful; those who are not favored may become resentful, disobedient, and rebellious.

Isaac loved Esau because they both loved to hunt. The reason that Jacob loved Joseph the most was because he was born to his father when he was in his nineties, and was the first-born of Rachael after decades of waiting. * One thing Isaac and Jacob seem to have in common is their outward show of their favoritism, which they likely had no qualms about. Jacob knew exactly how to fool his father in his old age, with limited eyesight, to give him the blessing because his father’s partiality toward Esau was on display, as was Rebekah’s bias for Jacob. When Jacob was a father himself, he gave his favored son Joseph a many-colored robe, signifying a special position in the family. They didn’t try to hide their partiality.

Today favoritism of particular children is either flaunted, as it was then, or hidden (unsuccessfully) since most modern societies look down upon such partiality as harmful to family life. However, being sinners by nature, it is impossible to be entirely impartial toward our family members. Sometimes we have much in common with some (like Isaac and Esau, or Rebekah and Jacob) and other times there are exceptional circumstances surrounding births or other milestones (like Jacob with Rachel and Joseph). Of course, things happen as we grow older and unfortunately, family ties become strained. But they do not have to start or stay that way.

We need to be honest with God and ourselves, to recognize the special Christ-centered bond we have with each person God has placed in our family. Will you start this process today, if you haven’t already, by consulting your heart and the Lord, seeking the Christian love that extends toward everyone in your family, regardless of interests, circumstances, or past history?

* John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible,https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/genesis-37.html

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” (2 Timothy 1:5)

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all mothers and grandmothers were evangelists? Many Christians were raised in families that practiced other religions and did not have Timothy’s advantage of a godly, believing mother or grandmother. Timothy’s father apparently was not a Christian, but we only know that he was Greek and did not encourage his son to be circumcised as a Jew when he was young. (Acts 16:1-3) But clearly Lois and Eunice taught Timothy from the Old Testament, the “sacred writings” (3:15), and then God used them to bring him to faith in Jesus Christ. Timothy’s Messianic understanding of the Old Testament was one of his primary weapons against the false teachers, who were misinterpreting the Scriptures. (1 Timothy 1:6-7)

John Gill makes this helpful comment about Timothy’s faith: “Now when the same faith is said to dwell, first in his grandmother, and in his mother, and in him, this is not to be understood as if this grace was conveyed from one to another by natural generation; for grace comes not that way, only sin; men are not born of blood, but of God; but the sense is, that the same like precious faith was obtained by one, as by another. This was a rich family mercy, and deserved special notice, as being a thing uncommon, and required a particular thanksgiving; and is designed as a motive and encouragement to stir up Timothy to the exercise of that grace, and every other gift God had bestowed upon him, as in the following verse.” [“…fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…”] * Too many professing Christians today still believe that they have been born into their faith, as a Jew is born into the religion, but this is impossible, since God, the Holy Spirit alone regenerates hearts and saves souls.

Today, as we worship together in Church, in the family of Christ, it is a time to strengthen our faith to witness to our biological families. Since nuclear and extended families are important to the Lord, let us not think that family relations are out of date or a thing of the past. God is immutable, and his Word is our authority. So whether our grandparents, parents, siblings, or children are believers or unbelievers, we are called to share what we believe at the proper time for their good and for the sake of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

How will your family benefit from your worship today?

* John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/2-timothy-3.html